Research - Sarah Chang

The header of this music magazine, is quite bold and stands out. The image itself isn't anything special. The mode of address is direct address, the women is gazing out of the magazine as though she is looking at you. The image fits the contents of the page quite well. Her name ''Sarah Chang'' dominates the front cover, this anchors the cover story. Bar the Header and Subheading of her name, everything else is a lot smaller. This makes the main features stand out more then the others, showing this is what they are advertising and what the majority of the magazine is about. Also just above her name, it says 'exclusive interview' which means it would not be seen anywhere else but in this magazine, also drawing people in to read it. The strapline on the magazine cover is advertising it due to it being ''The world's best selling classical music magazine''. The image is very appealing to the audience, especially violin players due to her holding a violin, which suggest too me that she is a violinist herself. The could scheme used suggests innocence, and delicacy. Also the red and pink in the dress shows girly colors. Her pose is quite natural and it fits in well with the genre classical music.

Research - Conventions of a Music Magazine.

Each individual magazine follows the same rules, whether their fashion, lifestyle, computer or music. All of them must have an Image and Logo/Header. The image chosen should appeal to the target audience and fit the content. Theses are both usually at the top of the magazine cover and the Logo/Header will created the 'brand image' of the magazine, this will instantly make the magazine recognizable to the audience. Sometimes a slogan is used beneath the header, usually to explain the content of the magazine.  The leading caption usually dominates the front cover, this should anchor the cover story. Usually appearing on the left/right hand sides of a magazine cover is the subheadings of main stories that are wished to be addressed to appeal to the audience and also strap lines are normally placed at the top of bottom of the page highlighting small information in which could be found in the magazine. Color is yet another important aspect also, it should be appealing to the target audience and creating a 'house style'. Mode of address is also a big issue to look at, the most common used MOD in magazine is Direct Address, this is when the person on the front cover is looking straight out the magazine, as thought it's inviting the reader in. However other MOD's would be indirect address, this would be when the person is looking away, this isn't commonly used however it has been used on magazine covers. MOD is also refereed to the writing in the magazine and how it is addressed to the reader. This is usually wrote in a friendly, informal way. Each individual magazine generally include a Star or Celebrities on their front cover, to increase sales and profit. Stars are admired and are aspirational for the audience. The cover of each individual magazine is the main advertisement, because of this the whole has to the representative of the magazine. It should be very appealing, eye-catching, bright and interesting to entice the audience to buy the magazine. The colour scheme should also not just reflect upon the target audience but also in a music magazine  the genre of the music. For example: Red and Black for rock magazine's. Every magazine also includes a date and barcode, and usually now with a web address provided to entice audiences to the magazines' website. Depending on the magazine, depends on the prices. They tend to usually be expensive monthly 'Glossies' (Q, Marie Claire Fhm) or cheaper weekly magazines (NME, Zoo, Nuts)

Research - Preliminary Task

This is my first results of a magazine in which I did for my Preliminary Task, I based it on a college magazine. Overall I'm quite happy with the result, however I intend to change many things to make it a whole lot better for my Final piece. The picture in which I've used is very sharp and of good quality, it also fits in the page perfectly. I think the font of the magazine fits okay with the style of the magazine, yet its quite bland and I will make sure the one I have for my final one is more to my style of magazine and suits it. The layout in which I have used is appropriate for the type of magazine as you can view things clearly and I will make sure I make everything clear on my Final Music Magazine also!

Research - Initial ideas and Targets

For this piece of coursework I am going to create three parts: The front cover, contents page and two page spread. My initial idea is to forces on a balanced mixture of genres. I will aim to research many different aspects of a music magazine looking at fonts, layouts, color schemes, images and the types of things in which you would find on the front cover. After the research I will find out what my full intention for the magazine is. I know that my target audience will be for women, aged 16 to 21.